Warning the church of the Living God at Corinth, the beloved Apostle Paul called attention to the terrible failures of Israel in the wilderness wanderings. In I Cor. 10:4, he recalls a most intriguing and interesting phenomenon. A certain Rock appeared wherever the Hebrews made camp, as though it were (because it was) following them. Now this was not an ordinary rock. Paul calls it a spiritual rock. Doubtless it appeared as a large hunk of stone to the Hebrews, but something was very different about this rock. It’s story begins early in the Hebrew exodus from Egypt. It is first mentioned in Exodus 17:5-7. Moses was instructed to smite the rock which would produce water in abundance for the people.
Since that spiritual rock followed them, it is not known how many appearances it made or how many times the Hebrews took special note of it, or how many times they may have depended upon it for life sustaining water. But, it comes into significant play some forty years later as water was desperately needed, and the Hebrews were complaining because there was none. God’s instruction to Moses now was different: “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.” Num. 20:8.
Most who are passingly familiar with the Bible know Moses and Aaron did not follow God’s instructions, but in frustration with the people smote the rock twice. Yes, life giving water flowed, but God was not sanctified in the eyes of the people, and it cost Aaron and Moses their life.
That rock was not Jesus, but it was anointed (Christ is a Greek word that means anointed in English) of God to typify mighty things about Jesus. It showed among other things, God’s protection, solidarity, presence, and sustainment of life. What God has to give mankind is freely offered in Jesus, the Christ. He willingly died to give to all the water of everlasting life. He is with His people and will never forsake them: He is there! He never changes! Either He is one’s life into the age of the ages, or that life shall be forfeited. Being once smitten, He will not be smitten again, but forgives all who call upon Him in repentance and faith.
The recipients of His righteous blood’s cleansing that flowed from the smitten Anointed One commit a similar sin as Moses and Aaron when they claim they have become lost, and now must return to the Rock for a washing in His blood the second time. He will not be smitten again, but he may be spoken to in prayer and….”if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9 Hallelujah! What a Rock is our Savior!

By: Tony Hansen

This morning I began reading in the book of Daniel 1: 3-21
He was taken away from his home to live the rest of his life in a pagan, ungodly society. Among people who lived so different. Daniel did not protest, throw a fit, insist that they change for him. They were not going to change for him, yet he did not change for them either. He maintained his testimony, live a Godly life, influenced some people for good and served God and kings. God took care of him and blessed him in the midst of it all.
As I thought about we as children of God, we live in a sinful and ungodly society. Most are so because they are unsaved, some are saved but living according to the flesh and not the spirit.
Our society, world as a whole is not going to change for us. It is going to continue to be as it is and has been. No, I’m not being pessimistic but real. Yes, I do believe one should vote, speak up, stand for what is right and so on but not protest etc. and insist that the world change for us.
Instead, let us live Godly in the midst of it all. Be kind, caring, loving and compassionate Some will take notice, ask questions, doors will open to speak of our faith. Lives, people, famlies, will be changed, souls saved, The Lord will do the changing. And… let us be reminded …that He has us… in the midst of it all.
Have a great weekend! Happy Mother’s Day to all.

I know this won’t be very popular, but it is on my heart as it was part of my morning bible study today. I’m not perfect, but a work in progress. It seems that everywhere I go, I see women who feel the need to show too much of their bodies. I personally do not like to see down a woman’s shirt while I am in a restaurant or anywhere for that matter. Or, some woman wearing leggings that show everything and refuse to wear a shirt long enough to cover what needs to be covered. If they want to be attractive, that is not the way to do it. They have no godly pride whatsoever. Either the women don’t know better, or they do and just don’t care because it is all about them, or, they are trying to get attention and acceptance from someone…or anyone. Here are a few examples of why I feel the way I do about this issue.

When God was looking for a King to lead Israel, he turned down everyone who was focused on the outward appearance. God looks to see what is in our heart. (1 Samuel 16:7). Another example is 2 Timothy 2:9. The word modest means “well-ordered in a modest sense”. One of the main reasons this bothers me is the fact that Jesus said “If a man looks upon a woman to lust after her, he has committed adultery already in his heart”. (Matthew 5:28). Ladies, is the way we are dressing causing men to lust after us? You might say, well, if they do, that’s their problem. But, God is going to hold us responsible for our part as well.

We need to dress in a God honoring way that would reflect HIS character in us and we need to be examples to the younger generations. Our adornment should be humility, love, and grace, just to name a few. Beauty is on the inside. Right after Peter writes about wives submitting to their husbands, he says, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. ”(I Peter 3:3-4)

Wow. “In the sight of God of great price”. That ladies, should give us solid confidence to the point we don’t need to go out half-dressed just to get looks or comments or silent lusts. We don’t have to be of our culture. We are to be separate, and different. God has accepted me by His grace and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. We who are Christians, need to accept that love from God and be secure in who we are in Him.

How beautiful is the Rainbow! Moreover, its importance is far greater than simply esoteric. It calls to mind gigantic, divine promises: promises in covenantal terms of God dealing with man, and man dealing with man. Here are most interesting concepts, parts of which have been willfully ignored and forgotten. Think with me for a moment!
In the destruction of the ungodly antediluvian world, eight humans were saved from the worldwide cataclysm of water. It was then up to Noah and his family to repopulate the earth, and in doing so rebuild society on a more stable foundation, humanly speaking.
So, to give all ensuing generations unequivocal assurances that a hydraulic cataclysm would never be repeated, God put a rainbow in the cloud. Men still rejoice at the sight of this sign of God’s unconditional covenant. The rainbow remains, and it matters!
But, that is not all there is to the Noahic Covenant. Read about it in Genesis Chapter Nine. God established a fear and dread of mankind upon the animal, fowl, and fish kingdoms. That fear and dread largely remains!
Additionally, God gave every living thing that moves upon the earth as a dietary selection for mankind, including herbs, too. Much to the emphatic disdain heaped upon this concept by P.E.T.A. and others of their stripe, this dietary selection remains.
But there is more. God placed a societal corner stone enabling the progress of civilization, and preventing its total corruption as before. That cornerstone is capital punishment. It is now a repugnant concept to modern society which prefers to wallow in continuous deterioration while calling it progress. Hear the words of that cornerstone: “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” Genesis 9:5-6. Some will protest this; saying that we are no longer under the old law. But, friends, this was before the law by hundreds of years. It remains in effect as surely as does the promise of the rainbow. Every bleeding heart that says capital punishment is no deterrent to crime labels “Lie” to God’s Word. You see, the rainbow of God’s covenant is a coalition of the tenants mentioned in Genesis Nine. Every one of them is in force today as they were then. Men may ignore them, but the judge of all the earth will call each man, state, and nation in every governmental form into judgment on the premise (among other things) of this rainbow covenant of remembrance that matters.

The deepness of the Word

There is, today, a move away from the deep endearing knowledge of God and what He wants us to know. We are shallow in knowledge, relationship and living. We can no longer call our selves Christians because we do not pass the test of "Christ like." We want what we want and tend to move through the buffet line of the Bible, picking and choosing our desires. By this we allow our selves to indulge in worldly thought and actions.

We are called to be a separate people, distinct from the world and its practices. Those that call themselves Christians today practice worldly things and are no longer identifiable as Christians.